Trinity Cunningham is a new author with two books to her name. Blood Bound is the first book in the series that came out in the fall of 2023. Unbound, the second book, came out in the fall of 2024.
Both books are high fantasy and set in a fantasy world filled with humans and an elf-like race. In this world, only a select family line has the ability to practice magic. This blood-line is known as The Guardians of the Weldafire Stone. The Weldafire Stone gives the user the ability to practice magic through a blood letting ceremony. The an elf-like race, who is long-lived, also possesses magic.
The first book, Blood Bound, follows two brother, Raiden and Dimitri. Dimitri tricks Raiden into activating the magic in their bloodline. This sets off a domino effect of magic being released throughout Kartha. In the process, Raiden is separated from his wife and son. His goal is to return to them while trying to stop a tyrant king and learn magic.
Unbound picks up the story two generations later with Raiden’s grandson Mick. He grew up away from Kartha and is a chef. Through a series of events, he ends up in Kartha searching for his grandparents and answers.
Cunningham is a great writer with promise. Her books are well crafted with clear story lines. Her greatest strength is her world building. The reader will find they can easily picture the places described in her detailed writing. The pacing of her books is moderate. When not reading these books, I found myself wondering what would happen next in the novel. Curiosity about the characters and their struggles drew me back.
At the end of Unbound, I was left curious about Mick’s love interest. There were two women who played minor roles in Mick’s life. Both women gave the impression of being a love interest for Mick. At the start of the story, there’s one woman Mick seems smitten with. He easily walks away from her to pursue a quest. This leaves the impression that there actually isn’t something between the two characters. During the quest, another woman joins him briefly and Mick seems drawn to her, but she quickly disappears. At the end of the book, Mick and the first woman are having a conversation. She is unable to pursue a relationship at this time. Mick understand but there’s a hint of a promise that he’ll wait for her. Then he meets up with woman number two and it feels like a relationship is about to start. If Cunningham writes a sequel to this series, I hope to find out who Mick ends up with in this love triangle.
Trinity Cunningham has taken her time to write well-crafted books. We can expect more great novels from her as she grows in her writing craft.
Overall, both books are worthy of being read and are available on Amazon.
K. M. Wray 